Building a state that functions
The proposals put forward by the Socialist government concerning the overhaul of the country’s bankrupt social security system, as well as the measures to slash spending in the public sector, are both in the right direction. Recent opinion polls indicate that despite the economic and social fallout of the proposed measures, the large majority of Greek voters are in favor of the planned reforms, deeming them both necessary and unavoidable. However, the administration of George Papandreou will only succeed in seeing the measures through if it does so in a socially just manner, making sure that the burden is equally distributed. The best way to convince people of its good intentions is to open an investigation into well-connected businesses that have been implicated in tax dodging or other financial wrongdoing. The manner in which conservative officials of the previous administration dealt with the issue was provocative, to say the least. Here’s a chance for the PASOK administration to show the average citizen that something is indeed changing in the way the state is operating.
